Logrunners

Orthonychidae

Ground-dwelling, thrush-like birds with strong legs and feet for digging in leaf litter. The feathers of the relatively short tail end with sharp tips. Both Australian species are endemic, the Australian Logrunner Orthonyx temminckii and Chowchilla O. spaldingii. A third species, the New Guinean Logrunner O. novaeguineae, is found in New Guinea.

Orthonyx temmincki
The plumage of this elusive ground-dwelling bird is mottled rufous-brown and olive-grey, streaked with black on the wings, back and sides of the throat. The face is grey, as are the sides of the breast, and the belly is white. The female is distinguished from the male by the cinnamon, instead of white, throat and upper breast. Food is found by raking through leaf-litter on the...